Suicide is the third leading cause of death among adolescents, exceeded S only by homicide and accidents (Minifio, Arias, Kochanek, Murphy, & Smith, 2002). Despite a decrease in the rate of completed suicides from 1994 to 2000, the suicide rate for youths is still considerably higher ( per 100,000 in 2000 for 15- to 24year-olds; Minifio et al., 2002) than it was several decades ago ( per 100,000 for 15- to 24year-olds in 1950; National Center for Health Statistics, 2000). Suicide is a major source of preventable death in this age group, and a recent study estimated that in the year 2000, approximately 3 million teenagers (almost.
